Rule 51
by E.M. Megs
Summary: It was the team's first case. A teenager gone missing with her father. It's simple. Find her, right? Wrong. And a certain Ohtori isn't very cooperative. Can Haruhi and Kyoya overcome their conflicts to catch the perpetrator? AU - DISCONTINUED
1. Prologue: The Disappearance

_Rule 51_

_By E.M. Megs_

_Prologue – The Disappearance_

– _November 12th – 8:12 PM – _

"Tokyo Emergency Services. Please state your emergency," the dispatcher's voice clearly grunted through the line to a frantic mother.

"My daughter is missing. She should have been home 4 hours ago and she isn't at her friend's house," she mumbled, hysterical with worry. She bit her nails as tears threatened to break lose. And where the hell was her soon-to-be _ex_-husband. _'Probably off slandering our marriage with that slut of his,' _she thought bitterly. He should have been there! Their only daughter was missing for God's sake!

"What is your name?"

"Nami Mana," the woman replied, voice shaking.

"Where are you currently, Mana-san? We'll send a detective over immediately." She rattled off her address quickly and was dismissed as she waited for the cops to show up at her door.

– _November 13th – 8:54 AM – _

"Hey Ohtori!" Ken Shichi called as he sauntered into the office of his apprentice. "Got another case for you." He tossed a small file folder down on his desk and took a seat across from him as the younger man eyed him carefully while looking through the contents.

"I don't do missing persons," Kyoya stated dryly, "You know that, Ken."

"There's no such thing as 'I don't do' here. You know that," the brunette retorted with a snort.

"Give it to Tamaki! He loves finding those damn brats!" the apprentice detective grumbled in response after letting out a loud, long groan.

"It'll hone your skills to be exposed to all kinds of cases. _Not just _murders." Kyoya shot a glare at his mentor and let out a long sigh, accepting his fate with a nod of the head. "Besides, I have a feeling you might just not mind this one." The younger of the two snorted loudly in doubt. He hated having to locate lost brats. Especially lost _rich _brats. Granted he was pretty well off himself. But this was a filthy rich – most likely spoiled – brat.

– _November 12__th__ – 4:17 PM – _

She scoffed as she slid into the passenger's seat of her father's car. She couldn't believe this. Where was her mother? Wasn't she supposed to be the one that picked her up? And to top it off, her father was a bit tipsy. If she wasn't so exhausted from the slumber party she'd just had then she would really take into mind that getting into the car with her half-drunken father might be a bad idea.

Her friend's mother watched from the front door apprehensively as the father got in his car, slightly worried for her daughter's friend's safety.

The brunette wasn't stupid. She wasn't stupid at all. She had expected her father to have a bottle of wine or some other form of alcohol hidden in his car. She didn't expect him to actually drink it _while _he was driving.

She glared at her alcoholic father with disgust. No wonder his business had gone belly-up and left her mother to take over and pull it out of bankruptcy. She was ashamed to have to call him her father.

And he wasn't even going in the right direction of their house. He was heading the completely opposite way in fact. "Dad," she stated slowly then changed her mind. Why should she call him Dad? "You're going the wrong way. Home is that way." She jutted her finger behind her.

He ignored her, pulling up in front of a bar. She caught a glimpse of a woman wearing something that could barely be constituted as clothes walk out, stumbling the entire way with a bottle of beer in her hand.

The 15-year-old pursed her lips and glared even more at her father. He seemed to be pretending that she wasn't there. She snapped his name loudly. He still paid her no mind, sliding out of the vehicle like she didn't exist. Like she wasn't his teenage daughter. She scoffed and opened her car door, yelling after him. "Fine, Dad! I'll just walk home!"

She let out an angry hiss and climbed out of the sleek black car that he didn't deserve to own, pulling her sleepover bag from the backseat. "Bastard," she grumbled under her breath, watching her father disappear inside the bar. "Mum will definitely hear about this."

She slung the small duffel bag she used as a overnight bag over her shoulder and started walking in the direction of her house.

– _November 13th – 9:35 AM – _

He'd been at the Mana house – more like _mansion –_ for the past 10 minutes and all he'd heard was sob stories and pleas to find a daughter. Nami Mana's husband seemed to have disappeared with her daughter and the neighbors had said that they'd last seen her with her father. Suspicious? Most definitely.

"Please find her! Please!"

Kyoya sighed for the millionth time that day and shot a dirty look at his mentor. As if to say, 'This torture is all your fault.' Ken merely smirked. "Mana-san calm down please. I need you to answer a few questions if I'm going to locate your daughter."

She sniffled a bit and nodded. Never before had he seen a parent so distraught when there was a chance that their child was completely fine. "Alright..." he paused and glanced at Ken again before starting the questionnaire. "For starters, what's her name?"

"Miyuu. Miyuu Ami Mana." He was starting to think that the poor handkerchief in the woman's hands was going to end of as a few strips of cloth by the end of this visit, looking at the way she was wringing it.

"And how old is she?"

"15. Turns 16 in a month exactly." Kyoya nodded, trying to contain his boredom as he jotted down the girl's age and birthday.

"Can you describe her? And perhaps you have a recent photo?"

"Curly brown hair down to about her shoulders. Bright green eyes. Sharp chin. High forehead. She's a real beauty." A soft sob threatened to break through her mouth again but she held back. "I gave a photo to the officer that was here last night."

"When was the last time you saw or heard from her?"

"Friday morning. She was spending the night at her friend's house. But she didn't come home last night like she supposed to." Nami let out another sob that started more waterworks. He didn't try to comfort her, leaving that to Ken, just waited patiently for her tears to dissolve enough to ask his next question.

"What's this friend's name? And your husband's?"

"Yukiko Akana. And he's not going to be my husband for much longer."

"His name?" he prodded more.

"Takahiro Mana. I bet the bastard knew he was going to lose custody of her in the divorce so he decided to kidnap her!"

Ken was visibly trying to contain his chuckle. "Let's not jump to conclusions just yet," Kyoya muttered dryly, seriously unamused with this entire damn charade. "Are there any family problems at home besides the divorce?"

"If you're asking if she ran away, she didn't," Nami spat, slightly angered by his inference, "She was loved by both me and Takahiro. And she has plenty of friends."

"Kyoya was merely following procedure for missing children, Mana-san. No need to get defensive," Ken interjected quickly, giving him a warning look. Kyoya resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Voices coming from the front of the house caused his mentor to frown a bit and slip out to deal with whatever issue the suits outside were having.

"I'm sorry," Nami sighed and dropped her wringing hands. "I'm just... really worried, y'know?" He nodded in fake understanding. "Do you have any kids, Ohtori-san?"

He started in slight surprise and shook his head. "No. And I'd prefer to keep it that way for at least a few more years," he commented, albeit a bit dryly. She gave him a dirty look. "I'm not even married," he added in his defense. She sighed yet again and shrugged her shoulders a bit. "You said that your husband might have something to do with Miyuu-chan's disappearance?"

She nodded, a slight fire coming to her eyes at the mention of the man that should have been there. "The only thing that's holding back our divorce is his demands to have at least partial custody of Miyuu. But he's not a fit father! He's gone all day and comes home at all hours of the night – sometimes drunk. I'm sick of it! So I'm divorcing the bastard and taking Miyuu with me."

Waiting through the short mini-rant, he wrote down notes on his notepad. The father definitely seemed like a viable subject of worry. "Thank you, Mana-san," he murmured as she finished. He shook her hand and turned. "We'll keep you updated."

– _November 12__th__ – 4:32 PM – _

It wasn't long before she got tired. And she wasn't even half-way home yet. Curse her drunken father. She hated his guts. And he didn't even care.

She spotted a little park across the street and sighed, deciding ultimately that a rest on the swing set would probably do her some good. It dawned on her then that she should probably call her mother. And maybe her mom could come get her. She fumbled around in her pockets only to discover that her cellphone was missing.

Probably back in her father's car. She exhaled loudly and plopped down in a swing, kicking her legs lightly to get her higher up in the air.

Her eyes fluttered shut slowly. She loved swings. They always made her feel like she was flying. Flying high above the world. Until she was in a whole other realm.

One where her father wasn't a drunk and he actually cared about her.

Where her parents didn't fight.

Where she didn't have to walk across town from a friend's house just to get home.

She sighed as she slowed to a stop after coming back to earth. When her eyes opened, she noticed a new addition to the, formerly empty, park. A man was looking in her direction, a small smile on his lips.

For some reason, that smile freaked her out.

– _November 13th – 9:53 AM – _

Shichi was talking to a brunette woman when he exited the house. He stopped and observed her a moment from the doorway, wondering who she was. She had smooth, straight brown locks that fell just above her shoulders. Intelligent, curious chocolate eyes watched his mentor's face intently from behind thick frames. Kyoya narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously as a knot tied itself in his stomach. Something wasn't right here.

Then Ken caught sight of him. "Ah! There he is! Come here Kyoya!" he called, motioning him over with a wave of his hand impatiently. He sauntered over slowly, still eying the brunette strangely. "Fujioka-san, this is my apprentice, Kyoya Ohtori. Kyoya, this is Haruhi Fujioka, your new partner."

Kyoya stared at him like he'd lost his mind. _Partner_? "Ken... Can I talk to you for a minute?" he asked from between gritted teeth, the rest of his face completely blank. He nodded with a smirk and followed him to the other side of the yard while Haruhi acquainted with a few of the other officers on the scene. "Are you crazy? You know I work alone!" he hissed.

"It's a perfect learning opportunity for you," his supervisor retorted crudely, "She's a brilliant lawyer and a forensics scientist to boot. Definitely worth the investment if you care to give it a try."

"No," he deadpanned, "I work alone, I have been for the last two years."

"What about me?"

"You're a mentor and friend. It's different than a partner. I will _not _work with anyone."

"At least try it out!"

"Rule 13! You're breaking it! She's a lawyer for Christ's sake! If I work with anyone it won't be a lawyer!"

"You'll do it, Kyoya," Ken growled, "It's my job to assess your progress as a detective, so you'll do it." Kyoya grunted with frustration while his mentor took his arm and led him back to Haruhi. "There we are. Now, I assume you've been briefed on the case already, Fujioka-san. So I'll leave you two to it." He turned on his heel and left a pretty pissed apprentice and curious brunette behind him.

"Nice to meet you," Haruhi murmured, holding out her hand. He shook it begrudgingly.

"I'm going to the friend's house," he grumbled, taking off only to find her following him. He cast his eyes to the sky and silently asked, _'WHY ME?'_

– _November 12__th__ – 4:40 PM – _

Her senses were telling her to run. And that sense to run just increased the minute he started talking. "Lovely evening isn't it?"

She didn't move a muscle, keeping her eyes on him apprehensively. For some reason, her legs wouldn't move. They wouldn't propel her to go anywhere but instead dragged through the bark underneath the dangling swing.

He took a step closer to her. Still she didn't move. She opened her mouth and replied very carefully, "Yes. Lovely." He still moved forward with an entrancing amount of grace.

"I'm sorry for staring but you just remind me a lot of my daughter," he said softly, "She died a few years back with my wife in a car accident."

Her eyes softened and her tense shoulders sagged a bit. "Sorry to hear that," she mumbled, casting her gaze toward the ground and rotating her ankles. Poor guy had lost his wife and daughter all at once? That was sad. She wondered briefly how her father would react if she and her mom died like that suddenly then pushed away the thought quickly.

He'd probably be to drunk to care.

"Kokoro loved swings," he muttered, standing directly behind of her now. "Mind if I push you?"

She shook her head quickly and he placed his hands on her back, pushing forward as hard as he could. She went flying into the air, a smile on her lips. This was probably how his daughter had felt when he had pushed her. She floated away to her own little world where _maybe _her own dad would push her on the swings.

When she swung back something touched her neck, shocking her. She gasped and slumped a bit in the swings seat, flying off the other end when she swung away again.

Her head hit a rather large rock in the ground and she was out like a light.

– _November 13th – 10:32 AM – _

The friend – Yukiko Akana – gave much the same story as Nami. Saturday afternoon Takahiro had come pick his daughter up after that they hadn't heard from Miyuu. "Looks like a father taking custody issues into his own hands," Haruhi mumbled, fast-walking to keep up with him as he ignored her.

"Doesn't mean I still don't have to find her," he retorted crudely, taking long strides toward his office next to Ken's. "I _hate _missing person's cases," he added under his breath. She snorted and ducked into Shichi's office while he went to his own.

"Ah, Fujioka-san," the senior detective acknowledged briefly as she entered.

"Shichi-san," she replied, bowing. "You said you would show me to my office?"

"Right," he muttered, standing, "Unfortunately you'll have to share an office space with Kyoya for now until yours is cleaned up a bit." She nodded, casting her eyes downward. "How is he acting toward you?"

She shrugged and rolled her eyes. "Cold. Indifferent. Ignores me for the most part. I'm... his first partner aren't I?"

"Yes," he grunted, wrinkling his nose slightly with distaste. "He's worked alone until now. It'll do him some good to get a duo case or two though. Soloing has it's perks but so does having an extra person to bounce theories off of. Doesn't help that you're a lawyer."

"Eh?" She crinkled her nose up in slight confusion.

"Rule 13." She was silent as she stared at him a moment. "Silly investigator rules we use as guidelines. I'd get you a list but everyone tweaks them to their own liking anyway. 13's never involve a lawyer."

She snorted at the irony. "But I'm not solely a lawyer."

"Doesn't matter to him. Partial lawyer, all lawyer, even a tiny bit lawyer. Difficult bastard." Haruhi sighed softly, rubbing her forehead with her hand. "Suppose I should go tell him, hmm? I'm the only damn person he'll listen to."

Haruhi nodded to herself, caught up in her thoughts. Why the hell didn't Kyoya like lawyers? They were the ones that won the cases in court for Pete's sake! They were the ones that got the jury to convict the heinous criminals! Ken turned on his heel and headed out his office door, motioning to her to follow him. She hesitated a moment before doing so. "Kyoya, you'll need to share your office with Fujioka-san for awhile. Which won't be a problem since she's your partner, _right_?" Haruhi couldn't have missed her superior's threatening look even if she had wanted to.

Kyoya glared back but grumbled in consent, clearing the piles of files off of the other table in his office. He shifted them to the top of a filing cabinet in the corner and kicked a chair in the direction of the table. "There. A desk. Happy?" he grunted, plucking a folder off the top of the pile he had just shifted and settling back down at his desk.

She tried not to roll her eyes as she sat, setting her bag down next to the small table and pulling out her own folder. Ken nodded in approval. "The two of you will have Tamaki and Kasanoda as help if you need it. Though, I wouldn't bother Tamaki too much. He _is_ trying to get his teaching degree."

Kyoya rolled his eyes at his mentor. "Missing person's case. Either she's found or she's not. Not much else there is to do."

Haruhi glanced at the file on her desk, blinked a few times then piped up, "Unless she shows up dead." Her cellphone appeared in her hand a moment later and she slipped out the door quietly with Kyoya and Ken looking after her curiously.

– _November 12__th__ – 8:08 PM – _

She didn't know where she was. She was scared and she didn't know where she was when she woke. But something was trapping her wrists when she tried to move them. Her legs were free though, she noted in her slight panic.

What was the last thing she remembered?

Oh yeah. That guy at the park had been pushing her on the swing.

So... How did she end up here instead?

It was dark. Pitch black dark. Though there was a small horizontal shred of light coming from what she assumed to be under a door. But where was she? A small snicker came from a corner behind her, then light flooded the room, temporarily blinding her. Once she could see again she was staring into the face of the same guy from the park.

Only this time he didn't look like a gentle guy that was reminiscing about his wife and daughter.

Now, he looked like a psychopath.

–

**A/N: Another Kyoya/Haruhi partnership anyone? This is obviously their first case together (and sort of like... a Prequel to Of The Highest Degree.) They refer to Tamaki, that's because he _used _to work for the police department before he got his teaching degree. (It WOULD be just like him to change careers.) **

**Don't think Renge is going to be in this one since she didn't join the team until 6 months after Hunny and Mori (who _are _in this. They're just slightly in the background.) The twins show up soon enough, as does Nekozawa. **

**Yes... Ken Shichi was Kyoya's mentor once upon a time. Then he became sheriff. Yay him? **

**Rules, again, refer to Gibbs 51 Rules from NCIS. I do not own them in any way, shape, or form. Just like I don't own Ouran (Oh HAH. I actually remembered the disclaimer in the first chapter for once.) 13: Never ever involve a lawyer. **


	2. Chapter 1: Suck it Up and Die

_Rule 51_

_By E.M. Megs_

_Chapter 1 – Suck it Up and Die_

– _November 13th – 10:47 AM – _

Kyoya decided that the best thing to do for now was to locate the girl's father, Takahiro. If they found him then perhaps his daughter wouldn't be too far behind. He acquired the license plate number of his car from his wife and sent out a BOLO on it. There wasn't much else to do but sit back and wait now though.

Of course, he did all of this without informing his partner.

Which would probably earn him an earful from both her and his mentor.

– _November 12th – 8:10 PM – _

This guy was just staring at her. Staring at her with a look of menace in his eyes. She stared at him hard, slightly frightened yet slightly intrigued at the same time. "You know... You'll never get away with this. Mum'll find me," she said softly.

He laughed. Bitterly, harshly. "Is that so, _Kokoro_?" She frowned. Her name wasn't Kokoro. Why was he calling her that? Wasn't that the name he had used when he mentioned his daughter? "You think that Mum's going to come save you? Have you forgotten? _Mum's dead_."

And her mother wasn't dead either. Maybe this guy just got the wrong person. Maybe he just thought she was someone that she wasn't. Yeah, that was it. "I... think you have the wrong person," she mumbled, "I'm not Kokoro. My name's Miyuu."

"Don't feed me that bull!" he spat angrily, a red wire of some sort appearing in his hand. "You are Kokoro. No matter how you try to hide, you're Kokoro. I don't know how you came back, but you're not coming back again!"

The end of the wire was stripped, leaving the coppers entrails stiffly standing. She followed the trail of the wire with her eyes to see where it let off. Her eyes widened when it ended with an electric generator. There was another wire – a black one – was hooked to her left restraint that also led to the same generator. The restraints were metal. Her eyes popped to the size of saucers as all those science classes she would have loved to skip came back to her.

"I'm-I'm not Kokoro!" she exclaimed, panic taking hold of her when she realized what he was going to do. "I'm Miyuu! Miyuu Ami Mana!"

"Lies! All lies! 'Miss _Perfect _Kokoro.' 'She never does anything wrong!'" he mimicked voices that she'd never heard say anything like before. "Yeah. We'll see how perfect and wrong you are after this!"

He wordlessly hooked the red wire in his hand to her other restraint. She lashed out with her feet, trying to kick him in vain. He turned toward the generator and slowly turned a knob on the top of it.

A current started, running through her right arm, across her chest, then down and out her left arm. It started as a soft tingling at first that would occasionally cause her arms to twitch. The farther he turned the knob though, the more it hurt.

The more it _burned_.

Scalding and spreading through her whole body until her eyes rolled back in her head and her entire body jerked around like she was going through a seizure. And this sick bastard, her kidnapper, just watched with sadistic eyes drinking it in. Choked screams bubbled from her throat.

Then it was suddenly gone and everything went black.

– _November 13th – 7:22 PM –_

"When did you plan on telling me that you sent out a BOLO on the father's car?" Haruhi demanded, hands on his desk. He suppressed a snort and ignored her, continuing to read his paper and pretending that her voice was just the non-existent wind in his office. "Well?" she prompted, looking unamused.

"Who said I was going to tell you at all?" he replied with an air of ignorance, not even sparing her a glance.

She glared at him. "At least I'm trying to make this goddamn partnership work," she grumbled under her breath, slamming a folder down in front of him. "I'm going home. Call me if you find anything on Miyuu-chan." With that she left.

He didn't acknowledge that she had said anything though he did raise an eyebrow at the folder she'd put on his desk. _'What the hell could this be?' _he wondered vaguely, folding up his newspaper and tossing it onto what Haruhi was using as a desk. He flipped open the the manilla folder and gazed at the contents.

A sticky note was pasted on the inside cover. A note for him from Haruhi.

_Don't think you're the only one working. _

And a phone number.

He scoffed. Lawyers were useless. He may as well have been the only one working. His eyes shifted to the first page, finding it to be a copy of Miyuu's missing persons file. Notes were scribbled here and there, one of which informed him that the dogs that had been sent out had found nothing.

The second page was a witness report that stated Miyuu had been seen walking home by herself halfway across town from where she lived. That perked Kyoya's interest slightly since she'd been thought to have been with her father. This stated otherwise. She had been by herself.

But she'd definitely been picked up by Takahiro.

What could have possibly happened between the two of them that would cause her to head home by herself?

– _November 13th – 12:29 AM – _

The brunette groaned as she opened her eyes, hearing the man tsking softly. "Really, Kokoro. I don't remember you being as weak as this. Before it took at least four shocks before you'd pass out. Of course you were also trying to protect _Toshiro_, _Hiroko _and _Miroko_." He spat the three names with distaste. "Do you remember how Hiroko screamed when you were being hurt?"

"I-I don't know what you're talking about," she stuttered in reply, eying the hand that he had on the generator's knob apprehensively.

"And you hardly even screamed," he added, looking dementedly disappointed by this fact. "Course, you didn't the first or second times either. How on _earth _did you come back _twice_?"

She started to think that this was all just a bad dream. And when she woke she'd be lying on the floor of her best friend's room, waiting for her father to come pick her up. She screwed her eyes shut and wished it all to go away.

When she didn't answer his eyes flashed angrily and his fingers twisted the small knob under them ever so slowly to the right. She whimpered as the current started flowing through her again. "Please," she whispered under her breath, "Please don't."

It wasn't a dream. How could it not be a dream? How could it be real when it burned _so badly_?

When the voltage reached maximum this time, she let out a broken scream to which the man just cackled under his breath. She didn't pass out when he turned it off this time either. She sobbed and spluttered unfinished questions, only one of which got out completely, "Why?"

"Why? _Why?_" he asked incredulously, "Because you're _his _child. Because you tortured me all throughout our childhood! I was six years older than you. But you know what? Being your elder didn't seem to matter to you! After Mum died you were just _happy _to help Toshiro abuse me! You and those _bloody twins_. And you helped him kill Carmody too! She couldn't escape quickly enough. But I, _I _did!"

His laughter was hair-raising. Insane and absolutely nerve-wracking. He leaned in close to her face, his sickly sweet breath rasping over her face. "But you know what? You can't hurt me anymore. Because guess who's hooked up to _the machine _now? You are. And you're going to die on it."

Those words alone sent uncontrollable shivers up her spine as the current went from minimum to maximum in a second flat.

– _November 13th – 8:43 PM – _

Kyoya was about to head home for the night when a call from his mentor stopped him. He cringed inwardly, wondering if he'd somehow gotten hold of the fact that he was purposely keeping things from his 'partner.'

Ken seemed perfectly fine when he entered his office though. "What?" the apprentice asked bluntly, imagining the nice sandwich and bed waiting for him when he got home.

"They didn't find Takahiro's car. But they found him," the older replied softly, "I'd call Fujioka-san and head over to the Oak Hotel just off 463." He scoffed under his breath at the mention of the lawyer.

"Alright," he muttered, "I'll get going right now."

"Don't forget to tell Fujioka-san!" Ken called after him as he started on his way out of the building. Kyoya snorted. Tell Haruhi. Sure. Like that was going to happen.

– _November 13th – 2:34 AM – _

Her limbs still twitched even after the current had stopped. Her brain felt like it had been partially fried. Her throat was raw from screaming. Why couldn't anyone hear her? Was everyone on the outside deaf to the screams of a girl being tortured?

"Do you remember watching me squirm on this thing when I was 15?" he asked softly, eyes glistening menacingly.

She shook her head, whimpering softly, "I don't know what you're talking about!"

"Still trying to hold up the appearance that you're a little princess, eh? That you _never _saw Toshiro do _anything _to Carmody and I? After Carmody died, I tried to go to the police. But none of them would believe me because you wouldn't testify!" Spittle sprayed from his mouth onto her face, causing her to cringe.

And still her limbs twitched a bit. Every now and then her heart would skip a beat or two as well. But that skipping had nothing to do with the non-existent attraction she felt for this guy. The electricity. It was the electricity screwing with her heart.

The man scoffed lightly and glared at her. "Well, I'm going to bed, _Kokoro_," he murmured, seeming all at once a nice guy again. "Sleep well. Alright, _sister dearest_?" His tone held an underlying threat of menace. She nodded quickly.

The lights went out, a door opened and closed, and then she was alone.

She couldn't help regretting not running like hell the first time she saw him.

– _November 13th – 9:01 PM – _

The Oak Hotel was a nice, slightly small, hotel. They had good service and a cheap price. That's why Kyoya was slightly regretful that he had to ruin their perfect record of zero police raids, though it couldn't exactly be called a raid.

Really, all he did was saunter up to the receptionist, give her a charming smile and a flash of his badge, and ask for the room number of Takahiro Mana.

"O-Oh! 174, Ohtori-san!" she stuttered ungraciously, star-struck by his decidedly good looks that he often used to his advantage during cases.

"Thank you," he replied, still with that disgustingly fake smile on his face. Her caught sight of the receptionist flop onto her desk, her face red, out of the corner of his eye and couldn't help but smirk. The three officers with him followed as he found the correct door on the first floor and knocked, hand on the .45 Glock on his belt.

There was no reply so he knocked again, louder this time. This time they heard stumbling footsteps inside. The door creaked open slowly, a pair of dark brown, blood-shot eyes peeking out at them.

"Takahiro Mana?" Kyoya asked, recognizing the appearance of a drunk or hung-over man when he saw one. The man nodded slowly, looking at them all standing there. "Where's your daughter Mana-san?"

His mouth gaped slightly in confusion then he rolled his jaw a bit before slurring, "Wha' daugh'er?"

"Miyuu. She's missing. Do you know where she is?" Glancing behind him, the investigator noticed that there was an absence of teenage girls but an odd surplus of alcohol. Takahiro, noticing Kyoya's eyes looking past him, shifted to the left a bit with narrowed eyes. He didn't respond. The younger of the two, sighed and nodded at the officers behind him. "Obviously he was – and is – too drunk to know what happened to Miyuu-chan," he muttered as two of the officers pushed forward and cuffed Takahiro. "Take him to a holding cell. We'll see if he sobers up by morning."

The cuffed man screamed – rather broken with slurs – something about them not being able to do this and how he was going to have his lawyer on their asses. Kyoya just rolled his eyes. How he _hated _dealing with drunks.

But now at least he could go home and get some sleep before continuing this gruesome task that he'd been assigned.

– _November 13th – 4:54 PM – _

Miyuu had been awake for what she guessed was 6 hours. And she'd been screaming for help for nearly 3 when she heard a door slam upstairs. An angry slam. Sounded like someone had, had a bad day.

Which, now that she thought about it, probably wasn't that good for her.

Why was he doing this to her? Why on Earth would anyone do this kind of thing to another human being?

The door across the room burst open and the man came in grumbling about damn kids and upsetting colleagues. First thing he did was walk over to the generator, shoot her a look of loathing and mutter, "Maybe this'll cheer me up." And shot the damn knob all the way to max.

It burned. And her brain shut off as her entire body convulsed angrily with the electricity running through her.

When it stopped her breaths came in sobbing gasps that she tried desperately to control with no avail. Her words became nothing more than jumbled mumbles that weren't really anything at all. They meant nothing. And everything she said just seemed to piss him off even more. So she just stayed quiet.

"Did you ever," he started softly, "truly understand what your dear old Daddy was doing to me all those years?"

She stared up at him, hair frizzed out and eyes brimming with unshed tears. He continued like she had answered him. "At first, he threw a few punches, kicked a couple times as punishments. Then it became weekly. Then daily. And when Carmody tried to interfere he beat her too. And one day he beat her till she curled up on the floor and _died_. That's when he started giving me these."

He thrust his wrists under her nose where she saw what remained of dark burns that ran up and down his arms. She shuddered involuntarily, thinking of how there were probably identical ones on her own arms now.

"It was _your _fault," he hissed softly, pulling out something that she couldn't quite see but could tell it was sharp.

Without warning the sharp end came down swiftly on her abdomen. She screamed loudly, praying for someone to hear her. He withdrew, pulled back, her blood dripping from the weapon in his hand onto his shirt, and thrust it back down, a bit higher this time.

He yanked downward several times, soaking in every shriek of pain she emitted with every single one.

He stabbed her left shoulder, then yanked. Tears flowed down her cheeks in rivers. _Why couldn't anyone hear her pleas for help? _

He hit her left shoulder and yanked up until it left a huge, open gash.

"Suck it up," he whispered, face close to hers, when she pleaded with him to stop. "Suck it up, Kokoro. I went through way worse when I was your age."

Then he brought it down on the middle of her chest with enough force to crack a few ribs and drive the thing into her heart. Her breath died in her throat, memories flashing through her mind.

She knew it. She was going to die within the next few minutes.

Something clattered to the floor but she didn't hear it, just staring straight up at the ceiling. Blood bubbled out of her mouth as she struggled to breath. A particular memory flashed through her mind. The first time that she remembered seeing her father drunk. She'd been 7, excited that she was going to be a big sister.

Her dad was sitting in a chair, blubbering sobs falling from his lips while a few empty beer cans were spread around and another one was being held in his hand. _"Daddy what's wrong?" _she'd asked so innocently as she touched his shoulder. No sooner had she than he pulled her tight to his chest, squeezing her. _"Daddy?" _

"_Grandpa's dead, sweetie," _he'd whispered, slurring his speech, _"Grandpa's dead and mommy lost the baby." _

She'd cried with him after that. Because her Pappy was dead, she wasn't going to be a big sister, and her Daddy was in pain.

Her back arched as she tried to pull in another breath. To keep on living even if it meant that it was going to end later. She couldn't do it. "I-I'm... s-s-sorry, Da-Daddy," she choked out with her final breath.

Her heart slowed, her body went limp, and her vision faded to nothing.

– _November 14th – 9:39 AM – _

The first thing he saw when he entered his office was a brunette sitting at the extra make-shift desk with an English muffin in her hands. He cursed under his breath as she asked, "Why didn't you call and tell me that you were bringing in the girl's father?"

"Because, I didn't want to bother you," he replied with heavy sarcasm laced in his voice. You'd think that the reasons for his actions would be clear by now. He strode behind his desk and sat with an air of ignorance.

"I told you to call if you found anything!" she burst, glaring.

"Lawyers don't belong doing police work," he responded blankly, opening up the fresh newspaper on his desk. "They belong in the courtroom. Nowhere else."

"Are you _trying _to make me quit?" she growled.

"Depends... Is is working?"

"You can't just keep me in the dark about everything you know!"

"You can just stop nagging me and quit."

Ken arrived in their doorway, but neither seemed to notice, continuing in their bickering until he cleared his throat loudly. Both sets of eyes shot to him. "I can see the two of you are getting along swimmingly," he grumbled scathingly.

"She started it," Kyoya shot back before she could respond.

Haruhi gave him the evilest glare she could muster and said, "He still insists on leaving me out, Shichi-san."

"No one likes a tattle-tale, Fujioka-san. Can't solve you're own problems?" the raven-haired man's tongue lashed out before he could stop it.

"Kyoya!" Ken scolded sharply, "Enough! What is it with you lately? You're acting like a child!" Haruhi looked smug until he rounded on her. "And you aren't helping, Fujioka-san!" It was Kyoya's turn to smirk. "Both of you need to quit bickering like an old married couple and sort out your damn issues! Kyoya, I know Rule 13 is a big one for you and I hate to tell you this, but Rule 15 overrules it in any situation." He paused, shot them both a stern, angry look and added a quick order, "_Work it out._"

And then he turned and walked out ignored the 23 and 24-year-old staring after him with gaping mouths. "Never seen him so worked up," Kyoya muttered under his breath to himself. "Not even when his niece was murdered earlier this year." He shrugged quickly and turned back to his newspaper, choosing to ignore his partner once more.

She shot him a quick, questioning look. "His... niece was murdered?"

Kyoya nodded distractedly. "His sister's daughter, Mitsuyo Shwart. Osaka PD covered the case but it ran cold," he murmured, sounding uninterested. Then he seemed to realize that he had actually acknowledged her existence and shut his mouth. He stood and started toward the door, thinking it was about time to see how Takahiro was doing.

"Where are you going?" she asked. He snorted as if to say, _'You think I'm going to tell you?' _She scowled and jumped up to follow him, grabbing her coat just in case. She let a frustrated growl fall from her lips when she realized that she hadn't been fast enough.

No matter.

She'd just get a copy of the file from his mentor later.

A very pleased smirk lit up her face at the very thought.

– _November 15th – 3:25 PM – _

Haruhi didn't see her partner again until the next afternoon while she was eating a late lunch. She'd also thoughtfully purchased a share for him as well that was sitting on his desk. He froze in the doorway, looked at the small paper bag, at her, then back at the bag before suspiciously inching toward it and peeking in.

"I didn't poison it if that's what you're wondering," she stated, turning a page in the report that she'd obtained from Ken about an hour earlier. He seemed a little doubtful which made her sigh, just _knowing _that he was thinking about the lawyer scandal that had taken place a few years ago. "Not _all _lawyers are sharks, Ohtori-san. And not all lawyers get into dirty business like that. Honestly... One does something stupid and everyone immediately assumes that it's like that for _everyone _of the profession."

He snorted and pulled the small container out of the bag, settling down with a pair of chopsticks to consume it. "Why do you hate lawyers so much?" she asked softly after a small bout of silence.

"I'd appreciate it if you'd keep your nose out of my business," he grunted in reply, stuffing another piece of chicken in his mouth.

"Did some lawyer spite you in some way? Ex-girlfriend take a load out of you?" He stayed silent, though his annoyance radiated off of him. She prodded more. "Lawyer who was supposed to be on your side turn on you?"

He startled her when he spoke this time. She'd expected him to stay silent the entire time. "Are all lawyers as pathologically insane as you? Or am I just so special to you that you find the need to annoy me _incessantly_?" He paused then drove right on forward. "If you _must _know, you were dead on with that last assumption."

He fell silent. Which, of course, only made her investigative side more curious. "Was it an important case to you? Is that why you hate me so much?"

He was resisted the urge to slam down his chopsticks and leave. "Yes." Haruhi opened her mouth to ask another question when he slammed his hand down on his desk and growled, "Why the hell are you here? You're a godforsaken _lawyer_. You _don't _belong here. Or is some sort of personal reason? Some family member that you're trying to follow the footsteps of? Your mother perhaps?"

Her jaw clenched and she turned away from him abruptly at the mention of her deceased mother. She didn't really think that she still had a weakness in that area. But judging by the ache in her chest she still did.

"Amazing police work there, Ohtori-san," she murmured stiffly. The slight tremble in her voice made her want to smack herself. "You're a spot-on grade A detective. If you must know, yes it was my mother. She's the reason I'm a lawyer. And she died doing her job. So before you go judging _me _on some stupid lawyer in your past maybe you should actually think of how useful _I _might be and not about how I'll probably screw up."

She stood and made to leave the room only to find Ken blocking it. She drew a shuddering breath and greeted him pleasantly. "Good afternoon, Shichi-san."

"And you Fujioka-san," he replied, eying her suspiciously. He looked at his apprentice then back at her. "Found your girl."

"Good," Kyoya grumbled behind her, "Bring her in and let her mother see her so that I can be rid of the brat." He couldn't help adding an, "And _her_," to the end of that statement while jabbing his chopsticks in the direction of his partner's back.

Ken glared at him pointedly. "I would, but there's a slight problem with that," he replied with a barely detectable edge to his voice, "She's dead."

–

**A/N: If you're wondering why they didn't see each other for practically two whole days... Here's a hint... _He was avoiding her_. **

**Whoo~ I'm on a roll~ I'm starting to wonder if I should maybe rate this M instead of T... Considering the next chapter is going to be... rather... graphic. In it's description of things anyway... **

**Anyways~ The Oak Hotel is a real hotel in Japan... I'm just using the name though. Dunno what it's actually like, record-wise. I needed a name. And my name-maker's busted at the moment. **

**Psycho-guy is creepy, eh? I quite like him and the entire huge back-story I've created for him in my notes (which'll slowly be revealed the farther this story goes.) **

**Kudos to: Koharu Veddette, Kuramasredredrose, idontseepenguins, and Enigmaticrose4. Thanks guys! :D **


	3. Chapter 2: The Discovery

_Rule 51_

_By E.M. Megs_

_Chapter 2 – The Discovery_

– _November 15__th__ – 3:49 PM –_

Haruhi and Kyoya arrived on the scene minutes after Ken announced it's existence to them. The sight – and smell – that hit their eyes and noses was not a pleasant one.

Miyuu's eyes were wide with fear even though they were completely unseeing. That wasn't what made Haruhi almost upchuck her lunch though. It was the fact that she'd been slashed, cut open, and disemboweled. Blood was everywhere. Flies were everywhere, working to make sure the body decayed. Her left leg was mostly detached and hanging limply off to the side.

The lawyer had to turn away from it, close her eyes, and cover her mouth with her hand just to keep down the vomit that was working its way up. Kyoya smirked at her. "Never seen a dead body?" he asked mockingly.

She opened her eyes briefly to glare at him. "Not... Not such a _gory _one," she retorted, her voice an octave higher than normal. She saw Ken smack him on the back of the head lightly, causing the younger man to glower at his mentor. A smirk of her own lighted her face.

"We're short CSIs," the older man grumbled, seemingly distracted by something. He wouldn't look directly at the body. Haruhi rolled her eyes and took out her kit. Ken nodded at her. "You're one. Unless you want to be here for most of the night though, you'll want at least two or three. Kyoya, go interview the person who found the body."

Never in all his life had Kyoya hated this job so much. A _lawyer _was going to process his scene. What the hell was the world coming to? "Two CSI/forensic specialists are on their way from Osaka as we speak. And Tamaki's agreed to help out where he can. That gives you a 5-person team, not including Nekozawa and Fukiko."

Kyoya's head snapped up from where it was looking at the body. "Fukiko's coming back?"

"Yup. She's been jumping from place to place but she's taken interest in this case it seems. So she's coming back to work with Nekozawa. I'll be around as well if you need an extra. Only if you need it though. I'm supposed to observe."

Haruhi nodded as she squatted again, covering her nose and mouth with a handkerchief. She plucked a bug larvae up with her tweezers and set it in clear plastic cup. "Flies," she mumbled to herself, "Body's probably been here at least a day." The urge to puke was still there and her head was spinning from the effort not to. She stood abruptly, unable to hold it any longer. "Excuse me a moment," she choked to the two men still standing there as she ran toward the car again.

Kyoya was vastly amused despite the fact that a 15-year-old girl had been murdered and mutilated. "You got me a lawyer with a weak stomach. Thanks," he muttered sarcastically to his mentor, who just smirked.

"She'll get used to it. And you'll get used to her too. In fact, I'm betting that by the end of this case, you'll get along just fine." The younger snorted doubtfully, noticing his mentor's edginess but deciding to ignore it. "At least she's making an effort to work with you."

"I don't _need _anyone to work with," Kyoya retorted harshly, "I work better alone."

"Which is exactly why you've been assigned a partner. To test that theory _and _to see how you work with others. Your job could be on the line if you can't work with others properly, Kyoya. So if I were you I'd suck it up and give a little leniency to Rule 13."

He grumbled softly under his breath as Haruhi returned from emptying her stomach into a paper bag. "That's better," she mumbled, hands visibly shaking with weariness from retching.

"You're alright?" Ken asked with an uneasy chuckle. She nodded, glancing over at the body again really quick then back at his face. "The urge to be sick will pass. Trust me." She merely placed her handkerchief over her mouth again and squatted, not trusting her mouth to talk. "I... need to head back." Kyoya turned around and headed to where a stunned young man was standing, shivering slightly in the light fall breeze and wide-eyed with shock.

"You found the body?" he asked softly, knowing that it was better to gently coax statements out of shocked people. And this man was definitely in shock. He nodded stiffly, still staring in the direction of Miyuu's corpse. "What's your name?"

"Ry-Ryoku Churi," he stuttered.

"Can you run me through how you came upon the body?" Ryoku nodded but hesitated, tearing his eyes away at last. "Take your time."

"I-I was just taking a short cut home. And... I tr-tripped over her leg." He shuddered and pulled his coat tighter around him. "I ran, vomited somewhere over there-" he paused to wave his hand in a direction, shaking his head. "-and called the police." Kyoya bobbed his head lightly, scribbling notes down on his pocket-book. "Wh-Who is she?"

The detective swallowed slowly then murmured, "Miyuu Mana." Ryoku was silent but didn't react any worse than he had been before with this news, signaling that he hadn't known the victim.

"C-Can I go now?"

"Of course," Kyoya answered smoothly, turning back around to look at the scene again. He was thankful that it was secluded for once. Scenes inside the city tended to draw unwanted crowds. Now, there was just a few people – suits and a few other necessary people.

Trees were spread out in different places. Leaves covered the ground and the smell of freshly fallen rain filled the air, tainted slightly with the rusty scent of blood. The river was only a few yards away. Haruhi – his partner, he begrudgingly admitted – was squatted a few feet away, swiping at the ground a bit with gloved hands. He watched her look back at Miyuu quickly then back at the ground in front of her, sucking in a breath. "She was disemboweled here. Can't be sure if she was dead or not though. I'm not a coroner," she called softly, closing her eyes. "I need a mold of this track." A few camera snapshots followed this.

Kyoya pursed his lips at her demanding nature, taking note of the van that was pulling up. Their coroner, Umehito Nekozawa stepped out followed by a woman with black hair and bright green eyes. The rookie detective smirked to himself. "Fukiko," he addressed as the two approached. "Nekozawa."

"Kyoya," Fukiko replied, nodding and turning her eyes to the woman squatting near the body. "Who's she?"

Gritting his teeth, his simple reply was, "My partner for this case."

She looked slightly surprised, then scowled at him. She heard the note of distaste in his voice. "What's her name and what's wrong with her?"

Haruhi glanced up at them and stood, pulling off one of her gloves carefully. She shook Fukiko's hand, introducing herself with a slight cheerfully air, "Haruhi Fujioka. Lawyer and forensic scientist." The older's eyebrows raised as she glanced at Kyoya quickly before turning her gaze back to Haruhi.

"Fukiko Amura. Government coroner and anthropologist."

The brunette blinked a few times. "You work for the government?" she asked, intrigued, "Why this case then?"

The older one looked around for someone. "Where's Ken?" she muttered, ignoring the lawyer's question and looking at Kyoya.

He shrugged. "Said he had to head back to the office." He glanced at Haruhi, noticing the woman looking at him. He sighed inwardly and shifted his gaze away once again. "Fukiko, what's going on?"

"They sent me to check on this crime scene." The two partners looked confused. She pointed at the corpse behind them silently. "Approximately 15 to 25 years old, mutilated." She walked closer, squatting to pick up Miyuu's wrist. "Electrocution burns." Her fingers pushed her head to the side a bit, revealing two identical burn marks. "Tazer." The 34-year-old sighed softly. "That's why Ken left. This girl was a victim of the same person who killed his niece. He recognized the scene."

Haruhi brought her hand to her mouth. Kyoya just blinked. "A... serial killer?"

She nodded gravely. "The discovery of this body also matches that of Michio Corlet in 2000 and a family of 4 in 1990. Three girls and their father, Toshiro, Hiroko, Miroko, and Kokoro Choukichi. Their murderer was never caught."

The brunette closed her eyes, feeling oddly determined after hearing that there were so many victims. "I'm going to catch this bastard," she whispered under her breath, turning back to the victim with a new kind of determination. "Amura-san, I assume you and Nekozawa-san will be doing the autopsy. I'll continue to work here, with the other two CSIs when they arrive from Osaka. Ohtori-san you can handle all the rest and I'm sure you will, with or without my help."

Something caught her eye on the body. She held her breath while she took her tweezers and plucked it up. Her camera came up, snapping a close up of it. "Odd," she mumbled to herself. Kyoya just watched her with slight suspicion as well as disgust. Haruhi placed it very carefully in a small little bag, scribbling something on the front then placing it back into the case.

"She gets right to work," Fukiko noted with slight amusement, glancing at Kyoya. "Course she's a lawyer, so you don't like her do you?"

Muddy footprints were close to the tire tracks. Haruhi placed a yellow maker next to it, snapping pictures. "Take it away," she murmured to the two coroners, stepping back. Nekozawa silently moved forward to start transferring the body into a body bag. Kyoya stood with pursed lips, watching for a few more moments before turning on his heel. "Where're you going?" Haruhi called after him.

"Takahiro," was all he replied, heading for his vehicle. The engine was just starting when a thought occurred to her.

If he left, she wouldn't have a ride back to the department.

"Wait, Ohtori-san! I won't have a ri-!" she cut herself off with a huff of frustration once realizing that he couldn't hear her and was still driving slowly away from her. She sighed under her breath and rubbed her forehead tiredly. A soft chuckle pulled her out of her thoughts.

"He doesn't normally work completely on impulse. Normally thinks about the people he works with. He's either incredibly distracted or he _really _doesn't like you," Fukiko murmured with a mischievous glance at the lawyer. Haruhi rolled her eyes toward the sky, silently asking her mother to help her not to strangle of troublesome man she was being forced to work with.

"He doesn't understand," she mumbled, squatting again next to where the body had been. There was a slight blood stain, not as much as there would have been if she had been alive when she had been disemboweled. She almost winced as the picture of the 15-year-old screaming while her torso was slashed open.

"Understand what?" Fukiko asked, sounding slightly amused as she helped Nekozawa pile the body bag onto the gurney. "Make sure you get a sample of the soil."

"That I'm not completely a lawyer. And even if I was a full one, I wouldn't be a shark like most of the ones that he's dealt with." The 23-year-old took a small scoop from her kit and did as her elder told her to, digging it into the soil a bit and shaking it into a little baggy.

The 34-year-old paused, seeming almost hesitant to answer. "It's not really my place to say... But he probably thinks sorely of you – because of your occupation of course – because of what happened to his family during his mother's case." Haruhi's eyes shot up in confusion. Did she just say his mother's _case_? She was about to open her mouth to ask a question when she interrupted the thought, "As I said, it's not my place to talk about it. You'd have to ask him."

"Hmm," the younger woman hummed in thought under her breath for a moment, making a mental note to badger her 'partner' later. "From what you saw, would you say that the victim was dead when she was slashed apart?" she asked, switching topics to something slightly less depressing and that didn't remind her of her own mother.

Fukiko nodded, a small smile. "Did you get that from the lack of blood on the ground?" Haruhi bobbed her head. "Very observant, Fujioka-san. Yes, I'd say that's correct. Medically speaking her body was probably still a bit warm when she was disemboweled. However her heart wasn't beating so the blood that flowed from the antimortem wounds was significantly less."

"Thought so," the younger nodded, snapping more pictures of the ground. A leaf, though there were hundreds spread out on the ground, caught her eye. She glanced up at the treetops above her, frowning slightly. "Body was definitely moved. I don't think there are any kind of this leaf's tree anywhere nearby."

Fukiko smiled to herself as she and Nekozawa closed the doors of the back of the van. Yes, Fujioka was a very observant person. Perfect for the job if only her stubborn friend would realize that and acknowledge her. "Come on, Fujioka-san. You can catch a ride with us and return when the other CSIs arrive at the station."

– _November 15__th__ – 4:36 PM –_

Kyoya was sick and tired of running around in circles. The really big circles hadn't even started connecting yet but he was already sick of it. It happened every single time. Every time there was a murder case, they would start running in circles with suspects until they finally found some ground-breaking evidence that would put everything in perspective.

"What happened to your daughter, Mana-san?" he asked for what had to be the 10th time. Fortunately, this time he was rather sober from being locked up in jail for a few days. That didn't brighten the conversation any though.

"I told you, I don't know," the older commented drily, sitting there looking tired yet somehow relaxed at the same time.

With his daughter dead, you would have thought that he'd be absolutely distraught. This man seemed almost _nonchalant_. Like nothing bothered him at all. It disgusted Kyoya even more that his own father did. His fist came down hard on the table. "You picked her up! You better as hell know what happened to your own daughter! She's lying dead on an autopsy table right now, and _I _want to know how she got that way!"

Takahiro stared ahead, seemingly emotionless. Which only eerily reminded him of his father's way of dealing with grief and made him angrier. "Do you care _at all _about her? What happened?"

"I don't know."

"Were you too goddamned _drunk _to even notice that she was in the car? Too excited by the concept of beer and whores to get the idea in your head that you might actually take care of your own daughter for once?"

The 36-year-old tore his eyes away from the detective's gaze, a sign that he had hit the nail straight on the head. "I see. Well then. Next question: where's your car, Mana-san?"

– _November 15__th__ – 4:53 PM –_

It was a stripper bar where Takahiro Mana had left his vehicle. A stripper bar not far from the hotel that he had been arrested at. Unfortunately, these places normally meant scantily dressed girls flirting with him and/or drunk men and women. None of which Kyoya particularly enjoyed dealing with.

He flashed his badge at the guy behind the bar, completely ignoring the few girls that were passing glances at him. "Your manager, please?"

"Yer looking at 'im," he replied with a cheeky grin. "What can I do for ya, officer?"

"Detective actually," Kyoya muttered drily. "Were you working here three nights ago?"

"Yessir, I was."

"Did you see this man here at that time?" He pulled a photo of Miyuu's father from his pocket and held it up for the other to take a look at. A simple nod was all the reply he needed. "Was he with a girl about 15?"

"No, sir. Anyone und'r 21 ain't allowed in here. We follo' National Regulations, Detective." He began to look slightly skittish, or worried. Like someone had found out something that they shouldn't have or reported them or something. "Did this guy... Do somethin'?"

Kyoya ignored the question, knowing it was unwise to possibly start a public panic over this serial killer. "Does the parking lot have surveillance?" Another nod. "I'll need the tapes from three nights ago if it isn't too much trouble."

A scowl found its way onto the bar-tender's lips. "No can do, Detective. If yer gonna ask for 'em, I need ta know why. Ta make sure ya ain't gonna try and persecute my fine place here for somethin' or 'nother."

The bespectacled detective just barely managed to suppress an annoyed sigh from leaving his mouth. Between this guys accent and his body language that clearly screamed that he didn't like cops, he was _very _annoyed.

"His daughter is missing. Last seen with him. His car's here, he was found in a nearby hotel. I believe that her father was too drunk to notice that she was in the car, she got frustrated and decided to get home on her own somehow, leaving from this location. The police are not going to bear down on you if she happens to show up on the tapes. I'm just trying to find her." The half-truth, half-lie easily fell through his well practiced lips, with hardly a thought from him.

The bar-tender stared at him skeptically for the longest time before nodding a bit, waving his hand in circles and heading toward the back to retrieve the tapes. Or at least Kyoya _hoped _that was what he was doing.

Several crashes and a squawk of pain later, the rather bald bar-tender returned with a single tape in hand, rubbing the top of his head where a slight red mark was starting to form. He handed the tape over wordlessly and asked, "That all?"

The detective nodded his head and turned on his heel, throwing a thank you and good bye over his shoulder on the way out the door.

– _November 15__th__ – 7: 28 PM –_

Haruhi was going through all the current case files that were open on victims of the serial killer, as she had been for nearly 2 hours, just trying to find some _connection _between 7 victims. Granted, four of them were related, but beyond that there was nothing really that held any of them together.

She nibbled on the end of her pencil. None of them knew each other, according to these files. She did notice that all the females – Kokoro, Hiroko, Miroko, Mitsuyo, and Miyuu – all were ages ranging from 15 to 17 while the two males – Toshiro and Michio – were older than that, one being 41 and the other 23.

There was also the strange fact that they were all brunettes or red-heads. Both the males and two of the females being brunette and the three other females being red-heads. Besides that there wasn't anything that she could see that would form a valid connection.

Kyoya was still off doing whatever it was that he did, while she was stuck there. Her grumbling stomach only reminded her of this fact. "It's not a good idea to starve yourself Haruhi!" two nearly identical voices chimed from the doorway to the office she shared with the Ohtori.

"Of course, you never were really-"

"-Good about healthy habits."

Her head shot up, not even bothering trying to place the familiar voices. Identical red-headed twins stood in the doorway, amber eyes shining mischievously. "Hikaru, Kaoru!" she exclaimed, a grin taking place on her previously gloomy features.

An arm from either twin wrapped around her, huge smiles on both their faces that nearly mirrored hers. "You two are the transfers from Osaka?"

Two sharp nods. "We heard that you were put on Tokyo!" they chimed simultaneously.

"So we decided-" Kaoru added.

"-To surprise our favorite toy!"

Her silly grin only grew wider. "How about dinner?" she asked, excited from the very prospect of having the opportunity to catch up with two of her college friends.

"Just what we were thinking!"

"Take Kyoya and Tamaki while you're at it," a fourth voice called from the door. Haruhi looked over, finding Ken leaning against the doorway. Her grin dimmed slightly at the mention of her 'partner' who had so rashly commented on her mother, turning it into a slight grimace. "Neither of them have eaten. Between Tamaki's schoolwork and trying to hold down this job until he gets his teaching degree, I'm not surprised. Kyoya probably just forgot though."

She sighed and glanced at the twins. "Mind if we have two more?"

– _November 15__th__ – 7:54 PM –_

The air in the restaurant was so tense someone could cut through it with a knife and they still wouldn't have been able see through it. The 5 investigators sat at the table, waiting for their orders to arrive in silence. The twins sat next to Haruhi, Kyoya and Tamaki across from them. The blonde and two red-heads strained to stay silent while the brunette and raven-haired ones stared each other down.

"Uhh, Haruhi?" Kaoru muttered, breaking the tense silence.

"Who's the guy you're having a passionate staring contest with?" Hikaru asked.

She was silent, narrowing her eyes slightly at her 'partner' before answering the twins inquiry. "My supposed partner, Kyoya Ohtori. He doesn't seem to cooperate like a partner should though." She let her eyes trail to either twin on both her sides. Both of their eyes were on the man in question. "I assume this is Suoh-san?"

Kyoya nodded once while Tamaki started talking gallantly. "Yes Haruhi-san! I am Tamaki Suoh! I've heard much about you and you have certainly lived up to expectations!" She rose an eyebrow and tried not to twitch at his quick procession from her last name to first. It was their first meeting for crying out loud! More rambling followed.

"He always does that," Kyoya muttered, obviously just as displeased with this entire meeting as Haruhi was. "Can we just get this over with? I have work to get back to."

"You won't get anything done if you don't eat," she replied hotly. He stared at her with pursed lips. The twins looked between the two of them with obvious interest, wondering what either had done to piss the other off. Tamaki had grown silent as well. Hikaru coughed uncomfortably in the slightly awkward silence that had fallen over the table.

"Introductions have been made one way, but not the other," Kyoya commented drily, eying the twins with emphasis.

"Hikaru-"

"-And Kaoru Hitachiin-"

"-At your service!" they both finished with a nod of their heads. Haruhi tried not to roll her eyes at their twin telepathy.

"They were transferred in from Osaka PD. Old friends from college," she added in her own short comment before falling silent again in another staring contest with her partner. She would not crack before he did.

"Oh!" Tamaki exclaimed, "Kyoya and I have known each other since high school!"

"Unfortunately," the other grunted under his breath. The blonde pouted in his seat, drawing circles on the table with his finger. He kind of looked like a puppy who'd been scolded. Haruhi rose a single eyebrow at him but stayed quiet.

"What he'd do to piss you off?" either twin whispered in her ear, trying and failing at being discreet. She shook her head, indicating that they'd talk about it later. Their waiter returned before the two red-heads could prod her for more information.

Each person ordered in sequence. Haruhi sighed as soon as the waiter had left again, pulling a few files from the briefcase she'd brought with her. "I looked for similarities between victims, only one I could find is that they're all brunettes or red-heads. Females are all 15-17, males are over 20. No obvious connection besides that and how they were dumped and killed."

Kyoya glanced at the files that had been pushed in front of him, taking a gulp of the beer in front of him. "Ouran High," he muttered.

"Hmm?"

"Ouran High. All the females go to Ouran High School."

"How... How do you know that?"

"My sister works at the middle school. You're an alumni." She stared at him. "And Nami-san informed me of her daughter's school, I looked into it after Fukiko told us this is a serial killer."

The brunette blinked, eliciting the twins' instinct to want to run for cover. Immediately after her eyes narrowed. "You... Looked into my file?" A small amount of controlled anger rang clearly in her voice. "Do you know how much of an invasion of privacy that is?"

"I merely wanted to know about who I was going to be working with," he replied simply in his defense, folding his hands in front of him.

Her glare increased significantly. "There's this thing called human interaction. It's great for getting to know the people you're working with," she stated coldly, "You don't need to look into a person's _file _to do that."

"I find files more informative."

"I could be plenty informative if you would just act like a normal person and _socialize_." She'd suddenly lost her appetite to her anger. Shooting one more glare at the man sitting across from her, she stood and left, scooping up the files on the table on her way past.

The twins turned their gaze from her retreating figure to the two other men at the table. "Who invades people's privacy like that, Kaoru?"

"A cold-hearted bastard," the younger twin responded. Tamaki seemed to be a bit stricken with this answer. When the waiter returned with their food, noticing that they'd lost a person, the twins took their food and Haruhi's to go instead of staying there.

"That was interesting," Kyoya murmured, mostly to himself.

"They're right, Kyoya," Tamaki reprimanded lightly. "Interaction would have been better. I didn't expect anything less from you. Though, you could have been at least a bit more subtle about it."

The raven-haired man scoffed softly, "Since when in all the years that you've known me, have I ever _not _been subtle? She's just smarter than you are." That sent his best friend into a spiraling depression which he was sure would give him some peace at least until he had finished eating.

–

**A/N: Sorry for the wait. School started two weeks ago and began it's horrible dragging-me-under-and-getting-me-sick routine. 4 IB classes are so much fun to deal with. Especially when you have a cold that's trying to kill you. I know there are people also waiting on LD and AN (For which if someone has a useful prompt for X it would be appreciated since I'm utterly STUCK). I'm working on it as well. (In my little free time. Might be quite a while before something actually gets posted for them though.) **

**I thought that I should mention that I'm American so instead of causing trouble for myself by trying to tune this to the Japanese justice system, I'm just going to use the American one that I'm familiar with from all those lovely crime shows that I watch endlessly. (NCIS Season 7 started Tuesday night SQWEE! Then Bones Thursday!) **

**Also, I... don't own any of the Ouran characters. But Ken, Fukiko, Miyuu, other OCs etc, I do. And, honestly, I don't really care if you use them as long as you ask first so that I know you didn't just try to rip me off or something. (So just ask me first, kay?)**

**I must be getting predictable or something... Someone guessed that Ken's niece was a victim (Kuramasredredrose. Great job!). And someone guessed that the guy's a serial killer (Enigmaticrose4). Damn. My life sucks. (Either that or my foreshadowing was WAAAAAY too painfully obvious.) **

**And now for the regular awarding of the Kudos (Now THAT'S a different phrasing for me...): Kuramasredredrose, idontseepenguins, Enigmaticrose4, The Phantom Devil, and YukiruandPercabeth. **

**(LONG Author's notes... Really must break that habit.) **


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